A FOOD bank helping some of Kendal's neediest families has been awarded £11,000.

King's Food Bank, based at the Shakespeare Centre, says it can continue to employ its part-time manager - the only paid member of staff - and pay rental costs, thanks to the donations.

Ten thousand pounds came from the Foundation Grants Fund, £500 from the Dowker Bindloss Fund and £500 from the Castle Green Grassroots Fund. All three are administered by Cumbria Community Foundation.

Food bank manager Rachel Ellis said: "In continuing with our emergency intervention project, we will be helping to combat child poverty in Kendal. We receive between 20 and 30 referrals every week, and half of the meals we deliver are for children.

"Every day people in Kendal go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. This funding will help the food bank bring a real hope and value to the people who find themselves in crisis."

King’s Food Bank is supported by churches and other community groups. Since opening in 2013 it has delivered more than 60,000 food boxes to people who are temporarily unable to provide for themselves.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2013, one in five children in Kendal's Underley and Kirkland wards is living in relative poverty.

Ellen Clements, grants and donor services officer for Cumbria Community Foundation, said: “The food bank is a lifeline to some people. It provides food for those in a crisis situation such as being in a gap between claiming and receiving benefits; moving to new accommodation or simply not being able to make ends meet. We are very pleased we have been able to offer support.”

Donations of groceries such as coffee, sugar, tinned vegetables, tinned potatoes and tinned meat, UHT milk and fruit juice/squash can be dropped off at Cumbria County Council's offices, The Westmorland Gazette office, South Lakes Foyer and Tim Farron's office.